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Teaching Philosophy

    Education is a source where knowledge, lessons, and discovery are taught and explored. Education provides individuals with the opportunity to learn new ideas, while reconstructing past thoughts and experiences. It is a continuous flow of valuable information that will help in the future. Specifically, Dance Education frames the aspirations and goals that students set each day. It is the start to discovering the person you want to be in this world. School is not a “one size fits all”; it holds great value for each individual for different reasons.

As a teacher, I want

to exploit the

growth, physically,

mentally,

and emotionally, that

is rooted within

each student.

             

 

     As a dance educator, I see learning through a new lens, an appreciation for the “process” that takes place and not just the “product” that is made. In schools, students are expected to receive the ‘A’ in order to ‘complete’ the task, ultimately showing success. However, dance education redefines success in the classroom. As a dance educator, I will encourage my students to take risks. Hypothesizing outcomes, exploring ideas, to then revise the product is a cycle that should never diminish. Encouraging students to take ownership and action in their thoughts, ideas, and beliefs, through their work, is how growth and success are seen within each student. With that, I will teach a multitude of movement techniques, guided improvisations, philosophies, and studies through which they will grow to understand their bodies, minds, and emotions in a more intimate way. Through these practices, students will inhabit the skills to reflect and redefine ideas for themselves. The dance classroom should be a laboratory, approaching each day with an open mind, awaiting new discoveries. I strive to encourage students to utilize this process as an opportunity to figure who they want to be as a dancer and contributing member in society. To establish their own voice, students must be provided the knowledge and skills in a way that is accessible.

              How knowledge is being given to students is a way where individuals can strive or fail in the classroom and it is my wish to learn what works for each student. Using my personal experiences, looking at each student as individuals, presenting knowledge with an open mind, and comfortable environment, are all tools and lens I will invite in my teaching design. All students learn differently. I will include all various learning styles such as kinesthetic, visual, auditory (to name a few) to support Multiple Intelligences. I will utilize imagery, verbal/physical cues, and demonstration as part of my teaching methods. Creating a balance of flow, students will feel challenged along with experiencing growth in their abilities. Through intrinsic motivation, my students will feel immersed in their individual work. Utilizing the Learning-centered curriculum, my teaching will emphasize the goals and aspirations of each student and how each lesson is relevant to them. In my classroom, I will use group collaborations as a way for students to learn from their peers, gathering different perspectives of topics. Each student holds different personal experiences and interests, and it is important that each experience is brought into the classroom.

              I want to bring relevance to their education. I believe that each aspect of dance should be emphasized in the classroom, while all information holds validity and brings a sense of community into the classroom. Throughout the curriculum, teaching and learning about cultural dances and its history and origin will broaden student’s perspective of what dance is. It is a way to invite all students from various backgrounds in showing how each style is unique, as well as similar. Exploring various styles of dance sheds light on the world around us and how dance can bring people together, building an awareness to be socially and culturally responsive, ultimately experiencing a community within the classroom.           

              As a dance educator, I hold these responsibilities dear to my heart. As a kid, school was always a place where I struggled. Through my education, I have learned and appreciated the importance of “tenacity, setting a goal so big you can’t possibly achieve it…then growing into the person who can”. With that, I wish to show students that everything is possible if you work for it. Life gives us obstacles each day, big and small. Instead of running from them, I want to provide my students with the skills and confidence to approach those obstacles with an open-mind, ready to embark anything that life throws at them. I want to outline life’s obstacles and lessons in my classroom for students to build those skills to prepare for the future. Most importantly, I am eager to be a teacher for students to look up too, the way someone was for me. I want to be the teacher that acknowledges each student and their bad days, in hopes in making them a little bit brighter. I desire to show individuals that life gets tough, but every day is a lesson that can be learned. Being the teacher that teaches students to be the best version of themselves in and out of the classroom. My ultimate goal is to encourage students to never give up and to prove each day, that this world is theirs and to live each day with on open heart and mind.

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